Why GE Digital Failed | Inc.com

This a common reason why bug companies cannot innovate. They are focussed on short term goals and unable to take risks.

For GE Digital to have succeeded, it needed to be separate from GE. Making GE Digital its own business unit was a step in the right direction, but it also inherited the roles and responsibilities of GE Software. Digital transformation initiatives don’t need thousands of people. They need a small team with very little time and very little money. Even worse, GE Digital was saddled with a quarterly P&L, which oriented its business around short-term revenue growth rather than long-term strategic objectives. This setup is the exact opposite of what digital transformation initiatives need to thrive.

It was always destined to fail but the executives made world class boasts about how “disruptive” and “innovative” it was going to be

There are definitely some significant improvements that were created out of GE Software and GE Digital. However, there were no game-changing, multibillion-dollar innovations. These were incremental improvements making GE slightly more competitive or innovative in its industry.

My Thesis: Big companies do big things but in the dumbest way possible. That’s just how it works.